Pigeon Poison

Peter M; Arlington, VA asks: What poison best works for killing pigeons? Someone told me that gopher poison works well.

Dear Peter: Yikes! Gopher poison? You don't have gophers on your roof. You have birds. The product used must be labeled for the target pest. Imagine if you were to use gopher poison and it did, in fact, kill the pigeons. The birds fall from the sky on streets and the backyards of your neighbors. A pet finds the dead bird and is poisoned by eating the dead pigeon. Somehow, the authorities track the dead bird back to you and you are sued for a million dollars. Get the picture? Don't do it!

Okay! That said, there is a pigeon poison sold as Avitrol, but you need to be a licensed pest control operator or bird control professional to purchase this restricted product.

Avitrol is not listed as a pigeon poison, but rather as a pigeon dispersal product. The active ingredient in Avitrol baits, 4-aminopyridine, is an acute oral toxicant which acts on the central nervous system and the motor nervous system. It is used to disperse large flocks of pigeons, not one or two. It requires three weeks of distributing non-poisoned corn to attract the pigeons to feed on the poisoned bait corn. Depending upon how the product is mixed, you usually kill about ten percent of the flock and the rest of the flock flies away, not to return. Avitrol is seldom used to treat birds in residential areas.

If you are only trying to get rid of a few pigeons you may want to consider excluding them using netting to close off the area where they are roosting and/or nesting. That's a whole other email.

Comments

Ask the Exterminator20 Dec 2010, 13:17

feduphomeowner: Don't do it. If someone's pet gets hold of a poisoned bird
you are going to have some serious legal problems.

Sheri27 Dec 2010, 20:34

I'm TRYING to get ride of the pigeons that are on my rough. I'm on the only
one on the block. I bought a owl which doesn't work for about a week. I've
tried the spikes and bird gel but they stand right next to it. What's next?

Ask the Exterminator27 Dec 2010, 22:22

If your pigeons are nesting on the roof or nearby, you will have much
difficult getting them to leave unless you install a product like Shock
Track. This is a job for a professional installer.

Nicole08 Aug 2011, 17:30

Help! My neighbors feed pigeons. The city ticketed them & told them to
stop but won't do anything more unless I can take a picture of them feeding
but there's a fence so I can't see what they are doing. I know they are
still feeding. The 70 pigeons sit on utility lines over my pool and it's
disgusting. I'm not going to trap them there are too many. What is wrong
with people I'm losing my mind.Thanks.

PigeonKiller23 Aug 2011, 18:41

Best deterrent I've found is a 1200 FPS 0.177 cal air rifle with a 3x
scope, sighted in at 20 yards.

Works for me. I shot about a pigeon a day for three months last year while
addling any eggs I found in the nests.

Now, I've only taken about a pigeon a week, this summer.

TotallyFedUpwPigeons___26 Sep 2011, 03:36

If I consult a professional to poison the pigeons what is the name of the
poison the professional will use?

Ask the Exterminator26 Sep 2011, 15:53

I guess you didn't read the article. The bird poison is no more.

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